Definition of "samphire" []

• See glasswort. (noun)
• An Old World coastal plant (Crithmum maritimum) having fleshy compound leaves and small white flowers grouped in compound umbels. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Usually served in restaurants under the name samphire, or sea asparagus, salicornia is often served in salads or with seafood (or in England as a side dish, with a little butter and vinegar)."
• "Also he ate a little of the bread he had brought with him; and with it some of a brisk juicy herb, called samphire, that sprouted richly in the cliff, which gave his meat an aromatic savour; and with a drink of fresh spring water he dined well, and was content; then he climbed within the cave, and fell asleep to the sound of the wind buffeting in the cliff, and the fall of great waves on the sea beaches."
• "The spontaneous appearance of a forest of oaks on the eastern shores of Asia was just as probable, under favoring conditions -- though occurring subsequently to the time of their appearance on this continent -- as that of the miniature forests of "samphire," or small saline plants, which spontaneously made their appearance about the salt-works of Syracuse, when conditions actually favored."